Favorite Teams

Donate a suit to boost esteem

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — What you wear can affect how comfortable and confident you feel and act. When it involves job hunting, the indispensable interview suit can mean the difference between getting the job or being back out on the pavement.

To give a boost to underprivileged women re-entering the work force, Dress Barn, a national retailer of women’s clothing, has teamed up with nonprofit organizations such as Dress for Success for its 8th annual Send One Suit Weekend.

Between next Thursday and Feb. 28, gently-used suits, pants, shirts, skirts, shoes and other professional items can be donated at the Dress Barn at 2935 Veterans Rd., in the Modell’s shopping center in Charleston. The donations will be distributed among local nonprofit organizations to help women walk into a job interview with confidence.

Those donating clothing will receive a tax receipt and in-store discount coupon. For more information call 718-966-1923.

SPRUCE UP WITH MOTHER NATURE

Protectors of Pine Oak Woods monthly Forest Restoration Workshop will meet Saturday at 10 a.m. in the parking lot of the Greenbelt Nature Center in Sea View at the junction of Rockland Avenue and Brielle Avenue. After a short walk to the bike path entrance at the junction of Rockland Avenue and Forest Hill Road, two hours will be spent removing invasive plants.

Protectors will supply gloves and pruners (and refreshments) to those in need. A short walk over nearby trails will follow the work session. For more information call Don Recklies at 718-768-9036 or Chuck Perry at 718-667-1393.

SHOP FOR FOOD DRIVE

College of Staten Island (CSI) faculty, staff and students will host a food drive at local shopping centers for the Project Hospitality Food Pantry on Staten Island on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

SI students will be at the following locations: Super Stop and Shop, 2795 Richmond Ave., New Springville on the West Shore; Stop and Shop, 2754 Hylan Blvd., New Dorp, on the East Shore; Shop Rite, 2424 Hylan Blvd., New Dorp, on the East Shore; Shop Rite, 985 Richmond Ave., Graniteville, on the North Shore; and Key Food, 450 Forest Ave., West Brighton, on the North Shore. DIVERSIFY THE BLOOD SUPPLY

February is National Black History Month. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 3.5 million African-Americans living in New York and 1.3 million African-Americans living in New Jersey.

Currently, New York Blood Center donors are 71.5 percent white, 10 percent Hispanic/Latino, 6.6 percent black/African American, and 4.7 percent Asian/Pacific Islander which does not mirror the diversity of the patient population.

Healthy people of all blood types and ethnicities should consider donating blood. Patients can require a precisely-matched transfusion from someone who has inherited the same antigens, or markers. This “precise match” blood is most often found in someone from the same ethnic or racial background.

To donate blood, call 1-800-933-2566 or visit www.nybloodcenter.org for a schedule of blood drives. Also check the Health and Fitness section in Monday’s Advance or at silive.com for local weekly blood drives.

To make an even larger impact, consider organizing a blood drive at your church, school or organization. Students who organize a drive are eligible for scholarship funds. For more information, call the number above or visit the Web site.